Do I have a bad realtor, I can't tell? Am I expecting too much?
I am generally try to give people a chance and not judge them so quick. But I have worked with this realtor, for the past month and here is my experience. I feel like I am doing a lot of the work,
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I am doing all the research of the homes I want to go see, she does have an auto generated home search set up on one home website but none of them are close to what I like/prefer. She is basically just opening doors for the houses I found. Granted we have seen more than 12 houses that we picked via Zillow.
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Not pushy about buying houses, tells us when she doesn't like homes at all.
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Timely but very short length conversations, mostly just texts. Doesn't offer too much valuable deep insight but does offer some generic one.
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seems sometimes annoyed that we can't decide on an area to live so our house scans has been different direction but this is due to the market and my job. Maybe 12 houses is a lot?
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I looked into a flipped home ( I know ..) and I'm doing all the deep digging about the house before flipped etc, isn't this her job?
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told us to wait on a home that we really liked first week of home search, saying she herself didn't like the design and that it would be in market for while. It went into contract 2 days later ..
Do I have a bad realtor? I can't tell ..please help.
byu/navy16st inRealEstate
Posted by navy16st
15 Comments
I’ve bought three properties through realtors. Unlocking the doors to the houses I picked out has been their main job.
As a buyer, the last bullet point is the one that makes me say yes, and you should fire her and get a new agent.
Some of this stuff seems like you could just communicate to them and ask them to pick up some of these tasks and share them to you.
I don’t know if she’s a bad Realtor but you’re not in synch with each other.
I’ll put on my broker hat and ask you some questions:
Are you ready to buy? As in, you have a recent pre-approval, downpayment and closing costs set aside, and will sign an offer when you see the right house.
What is happening with the saved search when you say none of them are what you like. Are they in the wrong area, the wrong price, the wrong style, or do you just not like them? Most saved searches can be modified by the recipient, or, you can send her a list of specific criteria and ask her to modify the search.
Tell me more about the areas issue. Are you defining areas as neighborhoods or counties? Has the market and your job materially changed in the month and a half since you started? Or are you considering new jobs over a wide area and haven’t narrowed down the job, so you can’t decide on an area yet?
Regarding selecting which homes to see, would you like the agent to pick the homes, schedule showings, and tell you where and when to show up? If so, how does that work with which area you want to live in?
Regarding the flipped house, most agents will help a buyer do research, depending on how you define research. If you mean permits, the contractors who did the work, etc., that typically happens after you’ve seen the property and you’re very interested. It wouldn’t be a prudent use of anyone’s time to investigate properties until you’ve been in them and know what issues need to be investigated.
Let me know and maybe this will help you narrow your concerns.
I’m not a realtor, but if I showed you 12 houses and you still weren’t sure what part of town you wanted to be in, I might be irritated also.
Perhaps she doesn’t think you are super serious buyer, are you prequalified?
The last time I bought in 2020, we lined up about six houses to see with the realtor in one day. At the end of that day, we wrote an offer.
The bar to entry into real estate is low, so you will have a wide range of knowledge, guidance, and ability.
This might sound obvious, but you and your realtor should both have an understanding of the “must haves” in the home you are looking for and the “I don’t wants” . This is definitely harder for 1st time home buyers and your agent should be patient and understanding.
I
This is not an agent problem this is a you problem!
Mid maybe. Not bad. That she can’t offer deep insights concerning but typical for an average/middling agent. 12 homes is not a lot. I have clients that tour that amount and more, over large swaths of the county. It’s a big decision and should come on your terms/timing.
Agree with the comment above that maybe it’s just a little out of sync (that she’s not sending you stuff you’re remotely interested in and that you’re pursuing information in the flip, does she know what kind of information is impotent to you?)
You shouldn’t ever fee like your agent is annoyed with you. That’s unprofessional and a bad look.
I don’t think she’s bad per se. She seems like a regular middling run of the mill agent who also doesn’t know how to stay in sync with your desires for information and who has zero awareness of the client experience she’s creating. Unfortunately this is the typical real estate agent experience that people have.
If you can’t tell if they’re good then they’re at best, below average.
Realtor opinion here. I don’t know if she’s a bad realtor. Just not meshing with you. Or she doesn’t think you’re serious about buying. And if she doesn’t think you’re a serious buyer she won’t treat you like a serious buyer.
12 homes isn’t a crazy number. But it might be a case of her feeling like you’re a time waster (not saying you are).
Have a conversation with her about these issues. If things don’t change then find another agent.
Just make sure if you’ve signed any buyers agency agreement with her that you all sign a cancellation so you’re not on the hook to pay her commission if you’ve signed any buyers agency agreement with another agent.
If she doesn’t agree to terminate the contract then call her broker. Tell them you want out and why. If they do not agree, then escalate to the governing authority and lodge a complaint.
Find another realtor. You also do need to decide what area to live. That will help your realtor narrow things down and actually be more useful to you.
take a looong deeep look in the mirror
I’d find someone else.
12 houses is normal. I handle real estate transactions law. One of my client is on their 18th house and has made 3 offers, two of which were turned down and one was accepted and the buyers walked away.
Why did they walk away? Their goofy realtor kept showing them houses after their offer was accepted. I put together a 30+ point attorney review letter requesting modifications and the sellers said yes to everything. Best I could do was get my clients $3500 of their $5000 earnest money deposit back because the sellers had already begun work. The realtor honestly thought that the attorney review period was a cooling off period. She blew her own deal. I lost a lot of confidence in my clients realtor over this.
As to you: if you have to see 20 houses to find the right one, do so. If you are considering a flip, your realtor can help you get info.
I think it might be time to reconsider whether this realtor is a good fit.
Is her first name Candace or Becky?
Communicate your concerns. How they react will tell you really quick what you need to do.
I’m a realtor, it really depends on some things here. I feel like both sides aren’t communicating well here.
Let’s take it point by point.
The auto search is just a basic search, that’s usually set to broad parameters. For example, if you say your top budget is 500k, I set it to 550k to account for homes that may take a lower than listed price. However, it’s really just meant as a broad search. Unless I know the person well, I rely on the buyer to tell me which homes they prefer.
The reasoning is simple, it’s much more efficient for you to tell me which homes you like rather than me guessing.
The issue here seems to be the search parameters aren’t aligning with what you want. Personally I like to draw a map of the areas you are interested in and the parameters that you pick.
– I’m not quite sure why not being pushy about deals is a bad thing? Isn’t that a good thing? I feel like people think agents are pushy to get a quicker deal.
I’d just like to know why it’s a bad thing in your eyes.
– This one is really hard to interpret because I don’t know what you mean by deep insight. I’m not disagreeing with you, I’m just asking for an example. Like what is your ideal deep insight on a listing?
– 12 houses isn’t a lot. In fact, I kinda believe in a modified version of the 37% rule. I advise people that you should see at least 15 homes, unless one just blows you away. At that point, you have a better idea of the market and what you want/need. After 15, pick the next best one you’ve seen so far.
However, people can also sense if you are not a serious buyer. Especially the more experienced you are in the field.
– This seems odd that she didn’t. At least in my experience, I pull up older listings for the flipped house to see the changes. Now things like checking permits and inspections wait until you decide to put in an offer.
– That was bad advice. Obviously.
I’m not saying she’s bad or you are, but would need some details to understand the situation better.